UGA Pharmacy team wins skills contest

Contact: Sheila Roberson, 706/542-5303, roberson@rx.uga.edu
Dec 13, 2007, 08:56

Athens, Ga. – Cynthia Illy of Eolia, Mo. and Amy Kendrick of Atlanta, both fourth year students at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, were victorious in the final round of the Annual American Society of Health System Pharmacists National Clinical Skills Competition, beating out nine other teams of pharmacy students nationwide.

In the preliminary round of the contest, a record 91 two-person teams competed in closed sessions evaluating and writing up a complex clinical case developed specifically for this student event. The case involved realistic drug-therapy issues that may be encountered in clinical practice today. Each team evaluated the case patient’s current therapy, identified and prioritized therapeutic problems and treatment goals, and created a care plan for review by a three-judge panel.

Illy and Kendrick presented the case of a 57-year-old obese Hispanic male with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and renal insufficiency. They had to manage his presenting symptoms of hypoglycemia and come up with long-term options for therapy for all of his disease states.

The final round of the competition was held before an open audience of attendees of the ASHP Midyear meeting, with each finalist team giving a five-minute oral presentation of the clinical case and then answering questions from the judges.

As the winning team, Illy and Kendrick each won $500 cash and a trophy, plus one for the College of Pharmacy. In addition, each top 10 winning team received ASHP board review books and $100 gift certificates for the ASHP bookstore.

This year’s contest was sponsored by the ASHP Research and Education Foundation.

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Note to editors: A photo of Illy and Kendrick is available by contacting Wendy Jones at 706/542-6927 or wfjones@uga.edu.